Christmas leave priority

I don't think that is fair but I also don't think first come first served is either.

The fairest way is if it is rotated every year and one person who worked last year gets leave this year and vice versa

It’s not fair no, there should be a fairer system where everyone gets the chance to take some leave regardless of children or not. Not sure why grandparents are in the list too.

Well it's clearly discriminatory and they are leaving themselves wide open by actually sending that out in writing.

I'd be submitting my leave request ASAP and kicking up merry hell if John with the 6 year old got approved before me, even though I submitted first.

It should be first come first served, or taking turns for Xmas/New Year each year, as many industries tend to do.

Rotation is best. Not aged of kids or first come first served.

Yeah that's not fair - and I say that as someone with kids under 7. Everybody has people they'd like to spend Christmas with, and for lots of people, not having kids or grandkids isn't their choice. It should be a rota system and go on what people had last year.

I think the grandchildren one and all the specifics are quite ridiculous tbh but I do really feel for anyone with young kids who has to work on Christmas day, they only have a few years where they're both old enough to know what Christmas is and young enough to believe in Father Christmas etc.

First come, first served also can be unfair, when my DB worked in retail the managers would all book off the best dates over the holidays then let everyone else scrap for the rest. Prob some kind of alternating years system would be fairer. I can't say I'd be that bothered as an adult without kids having to work over Christmas if it was part of my job though - though I'd want at least Christmas eve or Christmas day off as it's a religious holiday for me.

Ridiculous to prioritise grandparents over parents just because children are over 7. But then I don’t think people with children should be prioritised at all. There should be a system of taking turns because no one deserves to work every Christmas unless they want to.

When does the policy refer to? Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, both or what? If people are prioritises for Christmas are they expected to work new year or Easter? There needs to be some kind of compromise.

So I have children aged over 7 (40&39) so I would be number 3 priority?

I think the priority is batshit. Imagine a grandparent getting priority over a parent. But no it is not at all fair, people without DC should get their share of Christmases off too. It should be a rotation. Let me guess the person writing it is a new grandparent?

I think it is a bit odd, but working Christmas is a fact of life for some people, you know that when you accept the job surely.

Presumably you have Christmas day off, boxing day off and the 28th off which is a bank holiday. Why can't you see your family on those days?

Wow. That’s dreadful. That will backfire on them big time I imagine. I guess this is a private company

But it also shouldn’t be first come first served, it should be rotating. Looking at what staff had what last year and giving other people a chance to have a longer break over Xmas.

As someone with no children or grandchildren, I would be straight to HR as why they are discriminating against me on infertility grounds!

I would die on that hill.

That's not a fair or equal system.

YANBU

The way I do it with my team is everyone gets their requests in by a specified date. Priority is then given to people who have worked in previous years, or who have specific circumstances requiring leave (e.g. the widowed single parent who lost both their parents this year)

What consultation or discussion was there before this policy?

A team member once said to me …. She has no kids, she shouldn’t be given time off at Christmas…. It annoyed me beyond belief as the person demanding the holidays expected priority for all holidays, not just Christmas as she had children… Names were put into a hat the first year and it was rotated after that however there was a caveat that if you wanted annual leave outside of the public holidays at Christmas you had to have annual leave from that year available. You couldn’t carry the days as a negative into the following year. It worked very well. We sorted it in July each year and it stopped a lot of complaints as everyone knew where they stood.

It doesn't sound fair. It should be on rotation.

I have made my peace with Christmas & New Year and rarely use AL. My agreement with my boss & co workers is first dibs for Easter

That is a joke. As someone who did have to work Xmas and new year as clinical NHS that would make me fume and then go straight to HR.
How you do it is, ask people a preference to work over the Public holidays. Then you fairly roster according to required skills and ensure that those people then get the following years public holiday off that they worked this year. Whether someone has children is not a factor. And grandchildren is just ridiculous.

The child free....................second in line for possible conscription.
last in line for social housing.
First in line for the shit shifts.

Ive been told on two separate threads on here that i shouldnt be in social housing at all (not even in the one bedroom flat that im in) simply because i havent reproduced

Parents know that when they accept the job too

It’s not fair, but first come first serve isn’t fair either- and potentially as happened at one of my previous jobs all that happens is everyone requests the whole lot off on 1st Jan when leave diary opened for the following year so it didn’t make things easier anyway.

Fairest way I’ve seen it done is asking everyone to state what days they would like by a set date and then sift through to allocate as much as possible, then alternating the following year where needed.

It should be parents first. 7 as the cut off age is too young. Maybe 11 or whenever they're old enough to be home alone some of the time?

Grandparents should not be the priority. And I speak as a grandparent.

There are no holiday clubs for children over the Christmas holidays so speaking practically, parents have no other option than to be off work.

I bet this is retail or care sector. Both equally awful for time off over Christmas and New Year. So sorry 😞

But you have all year to organise something. You know when Christmas is on its way

Good point.